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There's air con somewhere inside, as it was the large condenser unit mounted on the side of the building that was running, they can only run to an AC system and don't really serve other purposes as they just pump and cool refrigerant. Possibly just inside the ops rooms and back areas but still it shows activity indoors. I don't expect it to open this year either but at least it shows there is work ongoing to get it open.

So I went to Oktoberfest at Thorpe yesterday. There's some photos and videos on TPM's Facebook page and as I'm only on my phone I'm too lazy to drag them all in - so check them out over there... [/plug] First thing first: the event isn't finished yet. They were still putting out benches, bunting, etc today. Some of the stalls don't have a full range of food yet. The steins you can buy aren't in yet. It's a bit of a shame. I don't quite get why Thorpe decided to have the event start so early, especially when they only decided to have the event a few weeks ago. It's likely put a lot of pressure on staff to cobble it together and ultimately it feels a bit unprofessional to have a half ready event at opening. The Oktoberfest area is basically the stretch alongside Derren, turning a dead spot into the highlight spot. It could do with more speakers and stuff as it's a bit lifeless at points. There's typical German-market like stalls; all but one run externally I think. There's a main stage, which will have acts perform on Fridays and Saturdays. There's some audio changes around the park. Notably Rumba Rapids (which has stickers over Rumba saying Oompah), Detonator and Stealth. Many other rides have Oktoberfest audio too, but they play intermittently. The Oktoberfest area, entrance, bridge and dome have audio too. Some thoughts and moans: -Some of the stalls (like the bratwurst bar) are cash only. In a time where Thorpe have been pushing going cashless for a couple of years, and Covid where card payments are strongly encouraged basically everywhere, I was surprised. -The stage doesn't have social distancing marked outside it yet. Performers who sing or play instruments should be at least 3m away from people during Covid I believe. It'll be interesting to see how that works... -The area has a lot of benches and barrels now. I can see it being quite congested in busier days, which could be a social distancing nightmare. -I found out from a staff member yesterday that most Thorpe food places are also doing German inspired food options. But nowhere is this said round the park. -A lot of the ride audio is a bit meh in my opinion. And the announcements are caricature level German to the point it sounds more Austrian in my opinion. -The huge focus on yodelling too, which is a bit odd given yodelling isn't a big Oktoberfest thing. It's more a Swiss thing, but whatever. All in all, the event has potential there. It's clearly been done very quickly, and is a knee jerk reaction to a lack of other events. It would be foolish to expect anything top notch from the word go. But equally, it isn't hitting the mark yet, and it's a bit of a shame it isn't really ready yet, and that they haven't got the stage performers daily (they do have roaming performers, but they're...not good). Hopefully it grows, hopefully they iron out the flaws and - in honesty - it would be nice if they continued it in future years and gave it a chance to properly develop.

I thought the exact same thing about Adventureville - weirdly reminds me of the bubbleworks. Ive not visited adventure island since 2017 and gutted about over the hill - I genuinely enjoyed that ride. Axis looks interesting - is it very intense? I wasn’t a huge fan of Scorpion so not really fussed that it has gone and the last time I rode Dragons Claw I had to go to the toilet to be sick 🤢 . As for Time Machine - did it once - never again 😱 - horrific thing! Great review - was hoping to take my nephews there but I think it’s best to stay away after what you mentioned about lack of social distancing etc 👌